Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday expressed his anguish after IDF’s air strike in Rafah killed 45 persons, the majority of them being women and children. Expressing grief over the incident during his Parliament address, Netanyahu said the attack in southern Gaza was not intended to cause civilian casualties and would be investigated.

"In Rafah, we already evacuated about 1 million non-combatant residents and despite our utmost effort not to harm non-combatants, something unfortunately went tragically wrong," he said in a speech in parliament that was interrupted by shouting from opposition lawmakers. "We are investigating the incident and will reach conclusions because this is our policy," news agency Reuters quoted the Israeli PM as saying.

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As per reports, strikes hit relief camps established for the displaced people in Rafah, resulting in the death of 45 people. As per the Palestinian health minister, over 36,050 people have been killed since Israel launched an attack in Gaza on October 7 last year.

Senior Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri has termed it as the massacre of Palestinians and held America responsible for providing weapons and funds to Israel.

Despite the outcry over the large number of deaths of civilians and attacks worldwide after the ceasefire, Israeli military action continued in Rafah on Monday. Israeli tanks fired shells in the eastern and central parts of the city on Monday, killing eight people. A two-week-long battle has been ongoing between the Israeli military and Hamas fighters in eastern Rafah, but a major bloodshed attack occurred in the Rafah area for the first time.

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There has been worldwide condemnation of the Israeli attacks. European leaders have called for the immediate implementation of the International Court of Justice's decision to halt military action in Rafah. Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and the European Union's chief for foreign affairs, Josep Borrell, said that the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding Rafah should be respected. Additionally, there should be protection of human rights in Gaza.